Nosotros

“Art and artists play many roles in contemporary society. Some artistic practices support just socio-political practices and processes. At other times, artists ignore or even encourage injustices.”

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Nos-otrosThe exhibition “Nos-otros” will open in the first semester of 2015 in Guatemala.Then the project will move to El Salvador and the USA at the end of the year. The title makes reference to “us” and to “the other”.

It will be Keith Andrews’ (KLA) first “individual-collective” show. That requires an explanation. The show will include 14 pieces. Every work will be the product of collaboration between a recognized artist and KLA. That is, each piece is undoubtedly a work KLA, but will be simultaneously and equally the work of someone else.

Four of the works include sculpture integrated with paintings; collaborators come from El Salvador, USA, Puerto Rica and Guatemala. Others combine two types of three-dimensional art (two Salvadoran sculptors). Certain pieces combine sculpture with poetry and prose (a Salvadoran-American novelist). A renowned Salvadorian photographer will work with KLA. One Guatemalan and one Colombian conceptual artist will collaborate on projects. One work will be made with a group of feminist hip-hop musicians from Guatemala. There will be another video sculpture (Guatemala).

Barbara Bridges and KLA will work together on a very interesting collaboration that will involve figurative sculpture, assemblage and social action. The project, still in design, will be based on the concerns and criticisms the two artists share.

In this exhibition KLA wants to highlight that no one in the modern world works in a vacuum; at all times we are interacting with and benefiting from the ideas and talents of others. Cross-fertilization is a constant. This occurs both in the world of non-artists as in other human endeavors. Most artists have the pleasure of working daily with a large team – in music, dance, film, architecture, etc. But in the visual arts existing practices usually discourage such mutual support. In the visual arts several factors conspire to require us to present our work as if it were isolated from the efforts of others. This conspiracy is an imposition of the dominant culture and market the mere habit. The idea seems to be that our artistic work – if authentic – has to be an expression of our individuality. But we are never isolated; we are always together.
KLA says, “Frankly, I’m tired of producing figurines isolated from a broader context and would like to work with other artists, learn from them and celebrate the value of human collaboration”.